Crime 101: Don't e-mail or IM your evil plot

The next time that you decide to break the law, try keeping the details of your evil plot to yourself rather than sharing it with an accomplice via e-mail or instant messenger. Two teens — Natalie DeMola and Terry Bell — weren't so bright back in 2001, when they decided to murder the girl's mother, Kim DeMola, who didn't want them to date. Take a look at the story on CNET Networks' News.com: "Police Blotter: Teenage murderers convicted through IM logs."

Here's a snippet from the article:

Detectives unearthed a series of e-mail and instant-message exchanges between the then-teenagers and used them as evidence in the trial. In them, Bell referred to himself as a potential murderer and said he would do anything for DeMola, including "kill'n for you."

Ahhh... forbidden love. What happened to the likes of Romeo and Juliet, who took their own lives after their families' disapproval? I'm sure that these two will have plenty of time to ponder that question (and many more) during their "life without parole" prison sentences. The irony is that they committed the crime so that they could be together, and now they are truly apart — forever. Don't you love happy endings?